ft. ‘Reservation Dogs’ & Vegan Mini Cinnamon Rolls

August 13, 2021 by Sydney Grant

Happy Friday the 13th for all you superstitious believers out there. It’s somehow mid-August and if you’re Starbucks, TJs or Staples, you’re wasting no time reminding us that fall is just around the corner. Hot take: August is too early for Pumpkin Spice lattes!! Can we please just enjoy the season we’re in for once?? BRB, heading to my apartment roof to attempt to fit in three months’ worth of tan into two weeks.

However you’re planning on spending your weekend, enjoy these quarantivities!

Quarant-streams

‘Reservation Dogs’

Watch this if you’ve ever been a character from any Quentin Tarantino movie for Halloween:

If you loved last week’s Outer Banks rec, allow me to introduce you to a show that may just tick all your boxes. Reservation Dogs is similar to Netflix’s teen dramedy/certified internet sensation in that they both follow a group of ragtag teens with two goals: to make enough money to escape their hometowns and to have a hell of a lot of fun while doing so. Both also involve heists and adventure, but whereas Outer Banks stuffs high-stakes drama into every episode, Reservation Dogs prefers to take its time.

Co-created by Native American filmmaker Sterlin Harjo and What We Do in the Shadows’ Taika Waititi, the show centers around a group of four Indigenous friends living on a reservation in rural Oklahoma. There used to be five of them, but one passed a year ago, so they spend their days mourning his death and coming up with ways to earn enough money to finally move to California. Although the first episode opens with the teens peeling off with a stolen truck containing nothing but spicy chips, the show is hardly fast-passed, opting to focus more on the mundane, dog days of teendom. And fret not my Tarantino fans, there are also plenty of Easter eggs for you to nerd out over, so you’ll have more than enough chances to prove to your wife/husband/kid/dog/grandparent/roommate/Hinge date/self that you’ve seen the OG Reservoir Dogs. Oh, and did I mention that this show portraying Indigenous people was not only written by Indigenous people but actually stars them too?? The perfect show doesn’t exi…

Stream it via Hulu.

Quarant-reads

‘Afterparties’ by Anthony Veasna So

Read this if love a good afters:

A colorful collection of short stories highlighting the lives of Cambodian Americans living in California, the posthumously published Afterparties is beautifully bittersweet. The characters brought to life by So have plenty to celebrate — weddings, Sunday mornings, family — but they are also living in the aftermath of the 1975 Khmer Rouge Genocide. Racism, shootings, and trauma are as prevalent within his pages as are the bustling get-togethers, shared noodle soups, and birthdays, with each story painting a different portrait of the immigrant experience. Sharp, passionate, and at times absurd, this after-party is one worth staying up for.

Purchase via Amazon.

Quarant-eats

Sheet-Pan Bibimbap via NYT Cooking:

Make this if your sheet-pans are your best friends:

Photo: Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Judy Kim

INGREDIENTS

6 ounces oyster mushrooms, torn into bite-size pieces
1 medium sweet potato (about 6 ounces), scrubbed and thinly sliced into half-moons
1 small red onion (about 6 ounces), thinly sliced crosswise into half-moons
3 packed cups coarsely chopped Tuscan or curly kale (from 1 small bunch)
6 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
4 cups cooked medium-grain white rice, preferably cold leftovers
4 large eggs
4 teaspoons toasted sesame oil, plus more to taste, for serving
4 teaspoons gochujang, plus more to taste, for serving
Kimchi, for serving (optional)

PREPARATION

Position racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and heat oven to 450 degrees.
On a large sheet pan, arrange the mushrooms, sweet potato, red onion and kale into four separate quadrants. Drizzle the vegetables with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat, keeping the types of vegetables separate. Try to not crowd the vegetables; you want them to brown, not steam. Roast on the top rack until the sweet potato is fork-tender, the onion and mushrooms are slightly caramelized and the kale is crispy but not burnt, 20 to 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, place another large sheet pan on the bottom rack to heat. When the vegetables are almost done cooking, in the last 5 minutes or so, remove the heated pan from the oven and evenly drizzle the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil on it. Spread the rice over half of the pan. Crack the eggs onto the other half and carefully transfer to the oven. Bake until the whites are just set and the yolks are still runny, 3 to 6 minutes (this time may vary depending on your oven, so watch it carefully).
To serve, divide the rice evenly among four bowls. Now divide the vegetables evenly as well, placing them in four neat piles over each portion of rice. Use a spatula to slide the eggs over the vegetables. Drizzle each bowl with 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and dollop with 1 teaspoon of gochujang, adding more if desired. Mix everything together with a spoon or chopsticks before diving in, and serve kimchi alongside, if you prefer.

Vegan Cinnamon Roll Minis via Choosing Balance:

Bake these bc who said you need dairy to have fun??: